John Burns Moriarty, 85, of Slanesville, W. Va., passed away Thursday, May 22, 2025, at Hospice of the Panhandle, Kearneysville, W. Va.
Born Sept. 10, 1939 in Neptune, N.J., John was the youngest son of the late USMC Brig. Gen. James F. Moriarty and Mary (Smithwick) Moriarty.
John grew up in Orlando and Winter Park, Fla. Like his two elder brothers and father before him, John attended The Military College of South Carolina. After earning a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from The Citadel in 1961, he was awarded an officer’s commission with the United States Marine Corps. He later earned a master’s in education from Pepperdine University.
John served as an officer in Vietnam, followed by a range of logistics and operations roles both stateside and overseas, including helming an early Marine Corps drone program that was ahead of its time, and postings in Arizona and Hawaii where he raised his family. He later taught at Marine Corps Base Quantico, which was his final posting. After retiring from the Marine Corps in 1981 with the rank of major, John went on to lead a series of logistics, electrical engineering and aviation-related projects at VSE Corporation of Alexandria, Va., a defense contractor. John retired from VSE in 1998 and maintained homes in both Alexandria and Slanesville for several years until permanently moving to Slanesville in 2005.
He is survived by his loving wife, Sandra A. Moriarty, as well as three children from his first marriage: John Burns Moriarty, Jr. (Elizabeth) of Mill Valley, Calif, along with grandsons John Burns Moriarty III, Thomas Frederick Moriarty, and Wiliam Nathan Moriarty ; Sara Kelly Moriarty (Christopher Hildebrand) of Richmond, Va.; and Paige Caroline Moriarty of Longmont, Colo., along with grandsons Owen James Hartman and Cooper Gail Hartman.
John was a loving stepfather to Scott A. Herndon (Darlene) of Manassas, Va., and step-grandfather to Johnathan Thomas (JT) Herndon of Weatherford, Okla., and Hannah Ranae Herndon of Manassas. John is also survived by a brother, retired USMC Lt. Col. William Smithwick Moriarty of Van Buren, Mo. John was pre-deceased by his eldest brother James Frederick Moriarty, Jr., of Dallas, Tex.
John and his wife Sandy loved to travel all over the world in their retirement, including visiting their family throughout the U.S., but always enjoyed coming home to West Virginia, where they lived in the Ice Mountain community surrounded by friends and neighbors. John was known for his generosity, sharp sense of generally appropriate humor, love of skiing, bluegrass music, great wine, and eclectic wooden carvings at his Slanesville home. John, however, did not like broccoli or onions, and will be sorely missed by all.
Burial services will be at Quantico National Cemetery later in 2025 as we celebrate his life.